My friend told me she is committing benefit fraud

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I have name changed for this.

Have a friend who I met this summer.She has DD aged 1 and I have 2DS's aged 2 and 6months so we are both SAHM's.

She has recently told me that she has been claiming housing benefit(£800 per month)and working tax credits,child tax credits and Income support.She told me she has 'hundreds'of pounds at the end of every month.

Her OH and father of their child live in the same apartment and works full-time and earns(in her words)lots of money.

The only thing that really worries me is that her DD sleeps in her cheap pushchair at night or sometimes their bed if she wakes in the night.
She has never bought her a crib/moses basket or cot since she has been born.
She also spends her money on cocaine at the weekends.
Anyway she is now getting worried about people watching her and getting caught.
Her partner sometimes finishes work and goes out drinking spending his earnings and she constantly moans about him that she can't stand him etc.
I think she feels that this benefit money is her stability.She also justifies it by saying he could get laid off next week or they could break up so she would have to claim anyway.
It does make me a when my OH works his arse off and every penny we have goes on the cost of living with nothing left over.

I don't want this thread to turn into a 'benefit bashing' or an argument just wanted to know how any of you would deal with this?
Would you report her(hate to do that)
or brush it under the carpet or stop seeing her as a friend?

Thankyou for reading.

Georgeorwell...'I actually hope this is made up otherwise with friends like u'...

What have I done?Please explain

Report her. And ignore George. She/ he needs to stick her/ his head in a bucket of ice to calm down.

The whole situation sounds very dodgy to me.

Could there be domestic violence involved and that is why she feels she needs the additional security of benefits to which she is not entitled?

There is always more to these situations than meets the eye.

She may be calling your attention to more serious underlying issues.

All governments waste millions.

so I would tell your friend she may well
be being watched. And find another solution to her lucre problems.

I do agree this may well be an invented problem.

What about some with a millionaire mate who is bragging about fiddling the revenue?

How in the name of arse have they got away with claiming all of this bounty (assuming they actually are) for so long? and Seriously my claim for HB is being reassessed and it's taking them ages to check every tiny aspect of what money I have.

I don't how I feel about reporting benefit fraud tbh but only because my sister's friend was recently dobbed in (her deadbeat ex had moved himself back in and rather than do the sensible thing and call in assistance to get rid of him she kept quiet despite him not bringing any wage in or being any help whatsoever). All her benefits were stopped and you know who suffered most? Her kids. They went to bed cold, hungry and faced eviction at one point. I'm not saying none of this was this woman's fault but I still can't honestly say I'd report benefit fraud.

I would however "grass" on someone who I thought wasn't taking care of their child properly. And imo doing coke at the weekends and not providing a bed for her child to sleep in is pretty neglectful, especially if her child is around when mummy's indulging her coke habit.

BTW where the fuck does this woman live if she's spending aleast £800 pcm on rent and has no room for a cot? I'm in outer London and pay £900 for 2 bedrooms so I know rent in shockingly high in some areas but still. Unless she's living in a studio flat or a shed she surely must have space for a cot....

'I would however "grass" on someone who I thought wasn't taking care of their child properly. And imo doing coke at the weekends and not providing a bed for her child to sleep in is pretty neglectful, especially if her child is around when mummy's indulging her coke habit. '

That's where I draw the line, too.

How does she not have room for a cot, I live in a one-bedroom flat. OP if you've been in her flat do you think she has room for a cot somewhere?

Surely if she's claiming she's a single mother and getting housing benefit her local council will either give her more hb for her to rent somewhere bigger or give her a bigger flat, depending whether she's a private or local authority tenant

She will also have received a Sure Start grant, most likely.